Success, the Indians and You

[Arrian]

No, don't disband them. Just don't build more. Use the ones you have (upgraded to rifles or infantry depending on what tech you have) for invasion support & to hold captured cities.

-Arrian

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

Doubtless, I will do that. Once Babylon is under my control, everything ought to be relatively smooth sailing.

If you look at the game though, I have a LONG war against the Arabs coming up. Therefore, I pray the RNG Gods are kind to me in my war against Babylon, as I hope to hit the Arabs with Cavs before they have too many muskets.

Another possibility, of course, is skipping Babylon entirely and hitting the Ottomans instead. What do you think of that route? I'm more inclined to do the smaller Babylonians (partially because I loathe Hammurabbi with a passion) first, but I'm open to suggestions.

[UnOrthOdOx]

Ill open it up and have a look at it tonight.

I typically take on the biggest opponents first after owning my home continent. Especially if you can hit them now while you have an advantage. However, those mega cities you talk of in Babylon could be painfully efficient at stealing wonders away from you...

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

Originally posted by UnOrthOdOx
I typically take on the biggest opponents first after owning my home continent. Especially if you can hit them now while you have an advantage. However, those mega cities you talk of in Babylon could be painfully efficient at stealing wonders away from you...

Oh, I wouldn't call them "mega cities". Just large enough to be irritating to seize.

Hit the Arabs first? Really? It might make sense, as I don't believe they have Ansars yet, but... they'll have them soon, and that means me defending my newly acquiring cities from a sea of Ansars... not my idea of an ideal situation, though it might be fun.

On the other hand, if you can see a brilliant strategic move that I can't, let me know... a great Arab beachead I'm missing out on?

[Arrian]

It was my intention of logging on from home last night and posting my game and stuff, but I got sidetracked. As it was, I only got to play for a little bit.

That little bit, however, was enough to finally destroy the Persians, make peace with the Chinese (who are now emasculated beyond all repair) and, in 1 turn, destroy Carthage. That pleased me. So it's now just me, China, Spain & the Aztecs (I never really thought about it, but it's pretty funny that they're neighbors, and the Aztecs seem to have gotten the military upper hand). The Aztecs are lagging in tech, allowing me to get luxuries for outdated knowledge. If I play the game out any further, it will be to play Greedy Imperialist Bastard (tm) with either Spain or Azteca.

-Arrian

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

Well, in 10 turns, China is toast. I hope you're happy, Dominae. 3-4 Galleons will be PRODUCED in about 5 turns and at my Northern coast in about another 5. Still, with about 1500 gold at the current moment, I'm thinking about rushing some galleons. With my tech lead, I might even just crank the tax for a few turns to get 2000 gold or so and then buy the galleons I need. I have the cavalry I need (about, uh, 35 of them? Forgot to write down exact numbers). Arabia has chivalry and gunpowder but Babylon doesn't yet have invention. I need to hit them NOW. (In the "Overseas Conquests" thread, I discuss my invasion options in more detail, for those who are interested)

I moved my Palace to Beijing... still in Monarchy, getting new techs every 6 turns and earning ~100 gpt. I should really switch to Republic, as I don't have enough military police to make a difference in China, where it matters... but then, what if my Babylon war turns out to be bloody? Wars with Babylon often are, in my experience...

If I'm REALLY BALLSY, lucky and clear-minded, I could even pull off an Arrian's Deception! But that means taking down Arabia, a nasty challenge...

[Arrian]

Just in case anyone cares, here is the game I've been babbling about lately.

[Arrian]

And here is the "humble beginnings" - the 50bc save:

[Yahweh Sabaoth]

I'll have a looksy at that myself... in the meantime, in case anyone cares:

Babylon - conquered. Arabia - annexed. Turkey - toast.

Scandanavia, overseas - kaput.

Luxuries in my possession - all, with the exception of gems, which I am importing from Persia.

Game - won.

I must say the Indian game was tedious at times but taught me quite a bit. To sum it up, though, I'd say that unless you've got wide open spaces availible to you, the best policy is to wage war (in order to build, of course )! My chief drawback was in not taking out my neighbors sooner - being too timid.

Why wage war, given India's traits? Well, first of all, you'll have plenty of neighbors you don't want to see make it to middle age - and secondly, the cultural and research benefits of India are greatly checked by India's usual neighbors - Japanese, Koreans, and often Babylon, not to mention the expanionists (Mongolia of course, and doubtless others). These neighbors seem to force India in the direction of war, despite "Gandhi" as India's leader (I chose to play as Chandragupta, thank you kindly ).

I stand by my city placement somewhat, as it did a good job at keeping the Koreans and others from expanding onto land that would have helped them. Still, I do wish I had shielded almost every tile from the get go and gone straight for IW and HR. The earlier I would have taken my continent, the better off I would have been. Commercial civs are natural continent-spanners, and in my case, I took and held two mid-sized continents profitably. Had I been more a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e, this could have been a domination victory, or at least a game I could have quit early.

Never put a war elephant into play - using Adam Smith's to trigger your GA, or capturing the Colossus around that time, is a great time to trigger your GA, and I'd concur with Arrian that it is most ideal. It allowed me to fulfill my builder's desires and then refocus on putting down external threats (other civs).

Of course, every game is different.